Isn’t it weird how many little things you can find while re-watching the MCU films?

And by “weird” I mean “cool.”

Especially when I finally figure it out.

(Anyway, I think it’s cool, although I’m sure 10,000 other people figured it out before me.)

To wit:

A lot of excitement exists over the prospect of the X-Men (and mutants generally) making their debuts in the MCU in the coming years.

How might Marvel explain them? Turns out, they’ve already laid the groundwork in a previous film, and not just through ret-conning Wanda Maximoff’s entry in the Marvel encyclopedia.

In Iron Man 3, Aldridge Killian tells/shows Pepper Potts that the human brain, “our whole DNA, in fact,” was made to be upgraded.

In Iron Man 3, this upgrade was accomplished artificially through the Extremis project.

But mutants come by that upgrade naturally, through evolution, or through outside influence, like Wanda and Pietro’s upgrades being “unlocked” by the Mind Stone.

So, really, there’s not a lot of groundwork Marvel needs to do to introduce mutants. It’s already been done.

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Stay safe, and have a happy holiday season!